ALT ___ Chicago

We are living history. We’re writing it as we go.

Everything we put our hearts and energy into, everything we subscribe to, everything we support - shapes our individual and more importantly, our collective history.

To kick off Black History Month, we’re honored to share alt_ was awarded the ART Grant from the Field and MacArthur Foundations which will provide our non-profit with a gracious $300,000 over the next 5 years. “The ART initiative is rooted in the belief that arts and culture organizations—including social service groups and those organizing for social change—play a vital role in Chicago’s identity, economy, and social fabric.”

We. Are. Blessed.

We are enabled to continue the work, to continue shaping our collective history. It’s in our hands, and we don’t take that lightly🙏🏾

We also take a moment to remember the history that Jon Veal etched into our foundation, into our communities and hearts; the roads he paved, his HISTORIC and powerful 30 year journey that led him to partnering with Jordan Campbell to initiate the dream that became alt_

Congrats to all Grantees and together, may we continue to write our own history.

Lastly, but not least, congrats to our very own Jordan Campbell .photo (pictured here 😀) who is leading the pack through his tremendous Power of Belief ♥️ // always making moves to ensure that in years, decades, centuries from now, history will look down on these moments with grace, dignity and love.

For more information on this award, please visit the link in bio.

With all of our hearts combined, today we pay extra respect to our beloved Jon Veal. Today marks one year since his passing. His passing did not fare lightly on any that knew him. We’re reminded though, today and every day, of his force - how he showed up to every single thing he was a part of - how he brought importance, meaning, strength and his faith in God to all of his endeavors and relationships.

We honor him, and we honor God’s faithfulness, which was exhibited through Jon’s [MIGHTY] 30 years.

In continuing his legacy, this year we implemented the Jon Veal Fellowship under the leadership of his mother Karen Veal and Curry Greene. Fellows Nia, Micah, Danielle, Tom and Chris showed up to continue Jon’s legacy through research, practice, intention and implementation. The culmination of their time spent came in the form of a Project Stamp held at , to celebrate the first alt_ project; where Jon and Jordan offered free portraits to folks in their communities as to attribute beauty, ownership and value in areas often times associated as otherwise. [more on this soon]

We also encourage you to reflect on your own year and practices, we hope you’re moving in a direction that aligns your heart and soul, all while pushing for more & for better.

When you can, show up the Jon way - like you mean it :)

If you feel so inclined, please share with us some memories and/or photos of Jon via link above.

Much love,
alt_ team

📸 .photo

“It is the worst of times but it is the best of times, because we still have a chance”

-Sylvia Earle

Redeeming refuse waste into sustainable functional artwork started as a late night conversation between friends and colleagues and has expanded into a inspiring collaboration between altspace and .studio
What a beautiful use of time this year has been, and we’re not done yet.

“ The crux of the problem is that the mainstream environmental movement has not sufficiently addressed the fact that social inequality and imbalances of social power are at the heart of environmental degradation, resource depletion, pollution, and the environmental crisis can simply not be solved effectively without social justice”

- Dr. Robert Bullard

This year at altspace we collaborated with our good friends and colleagues .studio to introduce Redemptive Plastics. This project has been collecting discarded plastic in the community and transforming it into benches and other functional artworks. With our volunteers we are still collecting, sorting, shredding, redeeming raw plastic into functional artwork for the community